


Fractures

by AllThoseDays



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Sacrifice Chloe Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-14 20:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8027476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllThoseDays/pseuds/AllThoseDays
Summary: This story tells what happens to Max after she chose to sacrifice Chloe. Watch her deal with loss, grief, guilt and regret as she has to relive the most horrible week of her life.





	1. Monday

The gunshot rings in my ears and I bury my face in my hands, crying silently. 

She’s gone, and it won’t get through to me. 

Chloe, my childhood friend, who I had just spent the best week of my life with. The girl that had been by my side throughout the most confusing and scary week of my life. The girl that had sacrificed her life to safe Arcadia Bay. To save everyone. 

My heart aches, as I think about the time we got to spend this week. When I think about Joyce and David, the pain becomes unbearable. I can still hear David’s sobbing in the dark room when I told him that she had died. His face had just been… I press my nails into my palms as I sit there, mourning my dead best friend and wondering just how long it will take before someone finds her. 

The door is thrown open and someone steps in. “Oh god… Chloe?” It’s David. Oh god no. I let out a quiet sob but it’s muffled by Nathan yelling frantically. 

“I swear I did not want this to happen, please! I didn’t want to kill her- Oh god I’m so sorry.” 

He lets out a groan as he’s presumably thrown onto the ground, and I hear the metallic sounds that must be handcuffs that are secured around his wrists. 

It takes a while before David takes out his walkie-talkie and he needs a few moments before he speaks. “I need assistance on campus, in the female bathroom, there’s been- she’s I mean someone er there’s a… someone’s dead… yes… a student shot her.... yes of course… send an ambulance and police, and tell them to hurry.” David stops speaking but lets out a sob. 

Nathan continues whimpering about how he’s sorry and that he didn’t want to kill her. David tells him to shut up. If David wasn’t an authority figure, I bet he would have beaten the shit out of Nathan. I would want nothing more than to do nothing but that, but then I’m reminded by the voice mail that he had left while I was in the dark room. I had believed him. That everyone had used him, and that he didn’t mean for anything to happen to those girls. I believed him… But right now I’m too angry about my loss to worry whether I forgive Nathan or not. 

“Oh Chloe… Please god… Oh Joyce…” I hear David whisper. Joyce, she can’t take this… First William, and now Chloe? I let out a loud sob as I the weight what I really have just done crushes me. “Hello?” David calls out and I hear him walk towards where I’m sitting. “Max?”

I can’t look at him. It’s my fault she’s dead. 

“Max?” he repeats. 

“David… I’m so, so sorry,” I cry out. 

He crouches and tells me that it’s not my fault and he puts an arm around my shoulders. After a few moments, the door flies open again and David rises. It must be the police. 

I hear David trying to keep his voice from cracking to explain what happened. Someone, whose voice I recognize as officer Berry’s, asks some more questions. Nathan hasn’t stopped talking, but it has turned into inaudible babbling mixed with sobs. There is a lot of noise outside of the bathroom. I imagine a student shooting someone does bring quite the commotion. I hear David say my name and someone walking towards me. It’s an officer I don’t know. 

“Max?” he asks.

I nod, but I’m still looking in front of me. 

He crouches and tells me that I have to sit here a little longer and that they’re taking away Nathan now. They’re probably moving Chloe too so I can’t see her body. The tears haven’t stopped, and I don’t think that they will in the nearby future. 

I hear someone giving instructions and I hear someone being moved. Based on the sobs, it’s probably Nathan. I hear shouting when the door opens. It opens again, and I hear something on wheels. They must be moving her now…. After a few seconds, the officer tells me that I can go outside now, but that the police wants to interrogate me since I’m an eye witness. I really don’t want to do that right now, but knowing that I have to, I nod. He gives me an arm to support me, and I hold on to it. For the first time, I step from behind the stalls. A blood stain on the floor indicates where she laid and I start to sob again. 

David’s not in here anymore, so I figure that he went along with Chloe. How is he ever going to bring this to Joyce… My eyes start to sting again and I bite back the tears, knowing that I have to go out. The door opens, and there’s so much noise… I don’t want to look up, knowing that Jefferson will probably be here too, and I can’t handle that right now.  
I hear a lot of my classmates call my name, but I don’t look up. I just follow the officer until we are stopped by someone.

“Where are you taking her?” it’s principal Wells. 

“We have to take her to question her. She’s a witness,” the officer explains. 

Principal Wells scoffs. “You can’t take her right now, she’s in no shape to answer questions! She witnessed a murder done by a fellow student!” 

The officer pauses for a while. “We’ll make sure it won’t take long, and I guess we can do it here on campus if we get your permission.”

I feel a hand on my shoulder . “Of course. Hold on Max.”

The officer takes me to an empty class room where another officer gets me some water. They start questioning me, but I’m not paying attention. Why were you there, do you know Nathan… I answer their questions, albeit very absent mindedly. I’m not an interesting witness anyways, as I didn’t see anything. As a result, the questioning is short and they inform me that it’s possible that I will be questioned again in the future, but that the chance is small since they’ve already captured the murderer. They open the door again, and the first person I see is Warren. 

He stands up quickly as I enter the hallway. He looks at me sadly, unsure what to say. “Do you want a hug?” 

I nod numbly and fall into his open arms. I start to sob again and he just holds me, which is all that he needs to do right now. I feel another person put their hand on my shoulder. It’s Kate. I turn to her and she hugs me as well. They take me to my dorm, and when I’m in my room, they don’t leave. I don’t think they’ll blame Warren for being here. I sit down on my bed and Kate sits down next to me, putting an arm over my shoulder. Warren sits on my couch, and they don’t say anything. Then I realize that they probably don’t know how I know Chloe and why I’m so devastated. They’ve both probably never even saw her.

So after I finish crying, I start to talk. I just want my friends to know that Chloe wasn’t some random punk girl that was killed by Nathan Prescott. I want them to know something about the real Chloe. I tell them how she and I were childhood best friends, the amazing things we used to do, how she was like a sister to me, and how I wished that I had visited her when I had first come back to Arcadia Bay. How that should have been the first thing I had done. I’m angry at myself. Chloe probably died wondering where I was, left by me, left by Rachel. Asking herself if anyone really cared about her. 

Warren and Kate listen as I talk, and they don’t interrupt when I start being mad at myself for being such a horrible friend. I’m grateful for that, since I probably wouldn’t have listened to them anyway if they’d try to tell me otherwise. 

But that’s not the only reason I’m mad at myself. Every bad thing that has happened keeps on going through my head and I know that it was all my fault. This whole week was my fault.  
When I’m done raging at myself, I hear a knock on my door. Kate goes to open it, and it’s Dana, Juliet, Alyssa and Brooke. They all give me a hug and tell me they are so sorry that I have to go through this. I don’t tell them about Chloe, but I do thank them for coming to visit me. Dana hands me some brownies, telling me that I need them more then she does. They don’t stay for very long, but they don’t have to. I almost smile when I realize that these people care about me, even without me helping them or telling them what they want to hear. 

Kate tries to feed me some soup, but I tell her multiple times that I’m not hungry, and that my stomach is protesting. Then Warren tries too, to no avail. They both seem pretty worried, so I take 3 small sips, which seems to make them slightly happier. When it’s getting dark outside, Kate asks if I want to sleep. I tell her that I’m probably not going to be able to, but I do feel weary and worn out so eventually I accept.  
Warren stands up. “I have to go back to my dorm… If you need anything, I’ll set my phone on the loudest noise so please call me if you need to… okay?” 

I nod. “Thank you Warren.” 

He gives me one last hug and a worried look when he leaves. 

“I’ll go get my sleeping gear and sleep here,” Kate tells me. 

“Kate, you don’t have to…” I say, but I actually wouldn’t mind someone staying with me through what’s probably going to be one of the worst nights of my life. 

“I want to. If that’s okay with you?” she asks.

I nod. “Yes, thank you.” 

She smiles. “No problem Max.”

After a few minutes we’re both in bed, well, Kate’s lying on my couch and I think about Chloe, about the past week. So many emotions fight inside of me to get the upper hand, and it makes me mad. I fucked up so many things this week… After a while, the weight of this whole week drags me down into a troubled sleep. 

\--------

I feel rain pouring down onto me as I realize that I’m back on the roof.

“It’s all your fault Max,” says Kate as she jumps. 

“No!” I scream and I reach out to her, but she’s already dead, laying on the ground in a large, red bloodstain. 

Kate stands next to me back again. “Max, if you hadn’t come back everything would have been fine.” She looks down and jumps again. 

“Kate… No…” I yell but it’s to no avail. 

“You never cared about me, did you? You’re a horrible friend Max.”

“That’s not true.. Please…” I cry out.

Kate jumps again, and again, and the bloodstain on the concrete just gets bigger and bigger. 

A flash of light makes me close my eyes, and I want to cover them but I can’t since my hands are stuck. I look down and I see that they are tied up with duct tape. I look around and I see that I’m back in the dark room.

Fear fills me and I panic. No… Oh god I have to get out of here… 

A flash blinds me briefly. “Max, please, could you smile? Do it for your friend, I’m sure she’d smile, if she could.” Jefferson. 

I look next to me and I see Chloe. There’s a hole in her head. I jerk myself away from her.

“Max! Lay still! Look at Chloe, she’s really good at it…”

Another flash and I notice that I can’t breathe properly. I try to open my eyes but they’re already open. It’s so dark, I can’t see anything. 

“Max…” I move my head and I see that it’s Victoria, and she’s lying partly under me. I look around and were in such a small space… I hear something close to us, like sand falling…

Nausea washes over me as I realize what’s happening. Jefferson is burying us alive. 

I wake again, and it looks like I’m back in my bedroom. I almost sigh in relief when I notice Kate standing next to me. “You should have let me jump Max.”

“I’m so over your hipster bullshit,” Victoria says as she appears next to Kate. “Max you’re such a fucking child! Go fuck your selfie.” 

“Let’s play in my dark room Max…” Jefferson appears next to them. 

“Max please, don’t kill us! Don’t kill me…” Warren says. They all start to reach out to me, repeating what they said over and over. I try to crawl back in my bed but when my back hits the wall I cover my eyes with my hands and scream as loud as I can. 

Tears are rolling down my cheeks as I look up. I’m not in my bedroom anymore. When will this nightmare end? I look up and I see Chloe stand in front of me. She’s facing the other way.

“We both know that you never wanted me to live in the first place.” She looks over her shoulder.

“Chloe that’s not true I-“

“Please, spare me of your stupid excuses to make yourself feel better. I wasn’t important enough. You’re probably glad I’m dead… Anyways, guess you got your punishment. I mean, you’ll have to live with what you’ve done your whole life now, with everything that you did this week. It’s all your fault and you know it… You ruined people’s life. You did horrible things. You should be ashamed of yourself. You fucked up Max.”

I open my eyes and my face is still stained with tears. 

“Max?” I see Kate stand beside me and she reaches out to me. 

“No!” I yell and I crawl back. I can’t do this anymore.

“Max please, it’s okay, you just had a nightmare…”

I won’t listen to her. I don’t need another person telling me how bad I fucked shit up. 

“No… leave me alone…”

“Max please you’re freaking me out… It was just a dream…” she carefully sits down next to me and I let her put an arm around my shoulders. 

I’m awake. The nightmare is over for now.  
I sit up and clutch my knees as I cry.


	2. Tuesday

Warren’s soft voice wakes me up.   
“I brought you two some breakfast… I figured that you wouldn’t want to leave her alone and well, that you both were pretty hungry by now…”

“Thank you, Warren.” Kate answers. “She’s still asleep…” 

I must have managed to fall asleep again after that horrible nightmare. Strange that it wasn’t followed by more… Maybe the fatigue prevented me to dream again… 

“How did the night go?”

“It was horrible… She must have had some horrible nightmares, around 4 she woke up, crying and panicking. She was so confused… Like she couldn’t figure out what was a dream and what was reality…” Kate continues. 

I feel bile rise in my throat as parts of the nightmares start to come back to me. 

“Oh man…. That’s horrible…” Warren answers. “Do you want to get some sleep now? You look pretty tired. I can stay here with her.”  
Oh no, I must have prevented Kate from falling asleep again…

It’s quiet for a moment. “I didn’t sleep a lot after she had woken up… I just sat beside her, holding her as she cried… It took a while before she fell asleep again and even after that, I didn’t really wanted to go asleep. If she had more of those nightmares, I wanted to be there…”  
Poor Kate… That was so sweet of her to stay awake. 

“You can go to sleep now Kate, I’ll watch over her.”

“Yeah, okay… Thanks a lot Warren. Can I take some of the breakfast with me though? For when I wake up.” Kate asks.

“Sure.” 

“Okay. Thanks again. I’ll come back when I’m awake.” 

The door closes. I figure Kate’s gone now. I can hear Warren walking over to my sofa and sitting down. A few moments later, I figure it’s time for me to actually wake up.   
I open my eyes and sit up in my bed. Warren’s beside my bed immediately.  
“Max… How are you doing?” he asks. 

I don’t really know what to say to that. “I guess I’m okay. Well, not really okay… I don’t really know how to describe it...” That’s true. What I do know is that I can feel it in my whole body. It aches. God Chloe…

“That’s normal…” he answers. It’s clear he doesn’t really know what to say.

I move so he can sit down next to me.   
“Do you want some breakfast?” 

I want to say no but when my stomach growls, I nod. 

He hands me the bag he brought and I take out a yoghurt. I don’t feel like eating something heavy right now. 

“How did you sleep? Kate said you had a nightmare…” Warren asks.

I look down. Parts of the nightmares flash before my eyes.

“Sorry I shouldn’t have asked you…”

“No, it’s okay,” I say. “It’s just not fun to remember my nightmares. They were horrible.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

It’s quiet for some time as I finish my yoghurt. I glance at Warren. With everything going on, I had almost forgotten that we had kissed… Almost… Well, he obviously doesn’t remember that since it never happened, but I do. Now’s not really the time though, still, I doubt the fact that I can completely put this out of my head. I bite my lip. 

“Classes are suspended until Thursday probably. Well that’s what the principal announced anyways.”   
It’s kind of logical to have them suspend classes for a while when a student shoots an ex-student, whose the daughter of the head of security, on campus.

“Thought you might wanted to know…” he adds. 

“Thanks yeah… Have you heard anything about Nathan?”

“Yeah, he was taken to a mental institution, turns out he had a lot of mental health problems but his father refused to help him… Maybe if they had done something about that… But that doesn’t take away what happened. He still killed Chloe…” he sighs while rubbing his head.

I didn’t want to hurt Kate or Rachel, or… didn’t want to hurt anybody.

“I know…” 

Our conversation is interrupted by my phone buzzing. I take it from my nightstand and see that it’s my mom, calling me. 

“It’s my mom,” I tell Warren. 

“Oh,” he replies.

I inhale deeply before I press the answer button and hold the phone against my ear. “Hi mom.”

“Maxine, I’m sorry we haven’t called you yet… We heard about Chloe…” 

I swallow hard. “Yeah…” I say, unsure what to answer. 

“Oh Maxine…” I hear her start to sob and my dad takes over. “Hi Max.”

“Hey dad.”

“We’re really sorry to hear about Chloe… I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. And poor Joyce…. It’s just horrible…”

I feel a lump in my throat and I try to swallow it away. “I know.”

It’s quiet between us for a while until I hear my mom asking for the phone.

“We want to come to Arcadia Bay for the funeral, but your granddad is… he’s not doing very good at the moment.”

“Oh,” I reply. “I didn’t know…” 

“It only happened 2 days ago, he had chest pains and got taken to the hospital. He will probably be okay, but he wants me to be there since there is no one else. We’re really sorry.”

“It’s okay mom, really. I understand, and I know Joyce does too,” I do understand. “I will give grandpa a call this week.” 

“That’s great sweetie… We’ll call Joyce as well. Do you have friends that can take care of you?” 

“Yeah, I’ve got Kate and Warren. They take great care of me. I’ll be okay mom.” 

“Okay… We’re very worried about you…. We know she was like your sister, and she was like a daughter to us… Even after those years, it’s so hard for us, we just can’t imagine what it’s like for you. Please call us if you need to, we’re always here for you okay Maxine?” 

“I know that… Thank you mom. And dad. I’ll be okay… It’ll take some time but I’ll be okay.”

“Okay, well, goodbye sweetie, I love you.”

“I love you too,” I reply.

I hear the phone being moved. “Take care of yourself Maxine, I love you,” my dad says.

“Love you too dad. Bye.”

I sigh and put my phone down. 

“You okay?” Warren asks.

“Yeah.” 

“Listen, if you want to do something, watch a movie, take a walk, or if you don’t want to do anything, just tell me…” he suggests.

“Thanks but I don’t really want to do anything right now.” There’s something I still have to do though. I still have to avenge Rachel. I have to report Jefferson to the police. For what he did to Rachel, Kate, all those other girls, and Nathan. All of them were used and abused by the man that’s still walking around in this school. I think about how I should address this. In the timeline where I had sent David a text, he believed me and Jefferson got arrested. I don’t really want David to ask me questions though…

I look at Warren. “Warren… I really appreciate what you and Kate do for me, but I’d like to be alone now.”

He looks back at me. “Oh okay, I’ll go then I guess.” He stands up and opens the door. “Please call if you need to.” 

I nod. “I will, thank you.”

He nods back. “Okay… I’ll let Kate know too.” 

“Thank you.”

He gives me a small smile and leaves. 

I go sit at my deck and take a deep breath. I start up a computer and make a new e-mail address. I search David’s e-mail address on the school website and write a mail similar to the text that I had sent him. After checking that it was definitely sent, I delete the e-mail address. I know that they can easily track my computer’s IP, but I don’t mind. I lay down on my bed. I just want Jefferson to get punished for what he did to them… For what he did to me.

My stomach churns as memories of my time in the dark room flash before my eyes. I felt so furious, but mixed with the drugs I was on it felt more like I had an angry fever or something. I was so close to being dead… What if I had died there? What if David was too late? Everyone would probably just have died from the storm, but what’s even more ironic is that Jefferson probably would have survived, being in a bomb shelter on the moment that the tornado hit. Or maybe he was outside, burying me. 

I open my eyes. I don’t want to think about that. Then something occurs to me. Do I still have my powers? Or were they just triggered by Chloe’s death in the bathroom? I can’t test it though. If I start messing with time again, I might trigger another tornado, and I wouldn’t know how to stop that one.   
I wonder if Chloe blames me for sacrificing her instead of Arcadia Bay. If she was sad or angry about that decision right before I went back in time. 

There’s so many more people in Arcadia Bay who should live… Way more than me…

Don’t say that… I won’t trade you.  
You’re not trading me. Maybe you’ve just been delaying my real destiny… Look at how many times I’ve almost died or actually died around you.  
She was so brave and mature those final moments between us. It seemed like in those few minutes, she had accepted her fate and chose to do a final good deed. Save everyone instead of her.   
I can’t make this choice!

I couldn’t make that choice. And I don’t think I’ll ever stop wondering if I made the right choice or not. 

“Max…”  
“If only Kate Marsh would have jumped off that roof… I could blame Miss Caulfield and finally get her kicked out of Blackwell…”  
“You thought I was harassing Kate, but I was helping her!”  
“Oh, oh, oh, Max, you’re way more disturbed and dangerous than me….”  
"Max I'm in a nightmare and I can't wake up... unless I put myself to sleep."

“Max?” I hear knocks on my door. I sit up and look around me, kind of confused. I rub my eyes. I don’t remember when I had fallen asleep, but another nightmare? Will I ever be left alone?

“Max?” I get off my bed quickly and open the door. It’s Kate and Warren. 

“Sorry I fell asleep,” I apologize. Then I notice the troubled look on their faces.

Warren steps forward. “Sorry we disturbed you, but I figured you wanted to see this. Something’s going on with Jefferson.”

Finally, justice will be served. I take a jacket and follow them outside.

We walk over to the central school building, where there is police standing everywhere. Kate and Warren stop walking, but I have to take a closer look. I walk forward with them following me until I’m right behind some policemen who won’t let us go any further. The big doors fly open and Jefferson is taken out, flanked by policemen and in handcuffs. He looks at the ground, but when he passes me he looks up. I look him straight in the eyes and I let him see it. That it was me. His expression stays the same however, and he continues walking. They step into a police car and drive away. 

“Principal, what’s going on! Why are they taking Mark?” Victoria calls out to principal Wells. 

He looks horrible, which is understandable since he just discovered that he hired a sick pervert. It takes a few moments to collect himself before he speaks. “This evening at 8 p.m. me and mister Madsen will hold a conference for all students in the gym. There we will further assess the situation going on with mister Jefferson.” Then he leaves together with David. 

“What the hell man…” Warren says. 

“I want to go,” I tell them. 

“Me too… He was our teacher, and it must be bad…” Kate says. 

Warren goes to grab some sandwiches for us and we eat them in silence outside. I glance at Kate. She doesn’t know it yet, but this will be a hard evening for her. They’ll probably want to question her as well. I start to wonder why the police haven’t already taken her with them, but they probably didn’t investigate all the files yet. Arresting Jefferson had to be their primary goal.

Despite us arriving at the gym 15 minutes early, it’s almost entirely full. Everyone is talking about Jefferson, and why such a great teacher was taken away by the police.   
We find some spots at the back rows, and after a few minutes the principal and David walk in. Poor David, he probably wants to be with Joyce now… Yet another thing that’s my fault.   
Principal Wells looks at the piece of paper that is in his hand. “Dear students and teachers. I know you are all curious so I will just start immediately. Today, former art teacher Mark Jefferson, was found guilty of kidnapping, murder and abuse.”

A lot of people gasp and express their feelings of outrage, shock and anger. 

“That can’t be true!” someone yells.  
The principal gestures everyone to calm down and stay quiet. “Today, the police found a bomb shelter owned by the Prescott family under an old barn. Inside was a photo studio and evidence that he kidnapped young girls, took pictures of them and released them. There was also evidence found that he was the one that killed Rachel Amber.”

I feel Kate tense next to me as more gasps, murmurs and yells sound through the gym. 

“He killed Rachel?” I hear Justin say, who’s sitting right in front of me.

“What does Nathan have to do with this?” someone yells from the other side of the gym.

“It’s not sure what Nathan’s relationship is with all of this, there is still a lot of research being done as we speak. It’s possible he had nothing to do with this.” Principal Wells explains. “Now there will be counselors available during the whole week, starting now so if you want to speak to anyone about this, please do. If you think you have more information to provide, please see mister Madsen or one of the police officers that will be on campus for their investigation. Classes are suspended until at least Monday. This will be a hard evening for a lot of you, but know that there is help available. That is all.” 

People don’t immediately start move when he says that. People are talking to each other, crying or just sitting there, numbly. 

“I feel sick, I have to go outside,” Kate says. I feel so bad for her.

We stand up and leave, together with a number of other people. When we’re outside, Kate runs to the nearest trash can and throws up. I run behind her and put my arm around her shoulder. When Kate is done, Warren hands her a bottle of water. She drinks and then she sits down on the grass and cries. 

Warren looks at me with a horrified look. I think he figured out why she reacts this way.

Kate is one of his victims. 

“I can’t believe it was him….” She sobs. “I trusted him, how could he do this to me?” 

“We all trusted him,” I say as tears start to well up. “We all did.”

I blink furiously so I don’t start to cry too, but the memories of my time in the dark room keep on flashing before my eyes. 

“I tried so hard to remember, but I couldn’t… I still can’t! Why can’t I remember anything?” Kate sobs. “I only remember waking up in a bright and white room… And I think Nathan was there too.”

“Kate, you should go to the police,” Warren says. “You have to tell them what you remember, it doesn’t matter if it’s not everything… They will be happy you want to help.” He puts a hand on her shoulder. 

She looks at him and then at me. “Do you agree Max?” 

I nod immediately. “Yes, of course.”

She thinks for some time and nods. “Okay. I’ll make sure that he pays for what he has done.”

I give her a hug. “You are so brave for doing this.”

She almost smiles and returns my hug. “Thank you.”

“We’ll walk you there,” Warren says. 

When we leave her with an officer we promise her that we will wait until it’s over. 

“This is one fucked up week, and it’s not even halfway done…” Warren sighs. 

“I know,” I answer. This week is very fucked up. 

Warren rubs his head. “Poor Kate, I mean, she doesn’t even remember what happened to her, that must be horrible….” After some thinking, he adds, “Well, maybe remembering everything wouldn’t be great either…” 

I don’t say anything. I don’t know what I’d prefer... 

“And to think that it was Jefferson, who knew that guy was such a pervert…”

“No one did. That’s why he got away with it for so long,” I reply. 

It’s quiet for some time. I notice I’m getting drowsy. “I guess Kate and I both won’t have a good night’s sleep.”

Warren looks at me. “I’m afraid not… I wish I could do something to help.”

I look back at him. “I know, but I don’t think there is anything.”

After a while, Kate comes back out, and her eyes are red and puffy. I give her a hug and we leave together. Warren walks us to my dorm room, and makes me promise again to call if we need him. Then, he leaves and Kate and I prepare for the night. 

“I’m not getting any sleep…” Kate sighs. “But I’m so tired.”

“I know the feeling. But we have to try,” I tell her. We give each other one last hug, and then we just try to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Wednesday part 1

I have numerous nightmares about Chloe. She kept yelling at me that I killed her, that I wanted her dead. That I didn't care about her. I know that she knows I care about her, and that I didn't want her to die, but I'm not sure if she blames me for her death or not.

When I'm awake, Kate is sitting on my couch, staring at the ground.

I sit up. "Good morning Kate… How did you sleep?" I ask her, though the bags under her eyes tell me the answer.

"Not good. I kept having dreams about Jefferson taking sick pictures of me…" she says quietly.

"I thought so… I'm sorry," I tell her.

She looks at me and squeezes out a smile. "Thanks… I guess I have to call my family today to tell them what happened… I just don't know how to tell them. I pretty sure that they'll come here and take me away to make sure I never return again…" she sighs. "I don't want to leave here, I mean, sure there are a lot of awful memories here…"

Max I'm in a nightmare and I can't wake up… unless I put myself to sleep.

A chill goes down my spine as I think about where that video and all the bullying put her..

"But I have you, Warren, Alyssa… I would miss you all too much and well" she pauses and looks at me. "I need you guys."

I stand up and give her a hug. "I would miss you so much too Kate. And I need you too. "

She smiles softly. "Thank you Max, that makes me feel better… I just wish that Victoria would leave me alone. At least Nathan's gone… I just don't understand why people can do such a thing."

I sigh, thinking about Nathan and Victoria.

I'm so sorry, I didn't want to hurt Kate…

Please, I'm sorry for everything. Look at me… Look what I did to Kate Marsh. I could have helped her, Max. But I hurt her.

"Nathan is mentally ill, I'm sure he felt sorry somewhere. And Victoria, I think she's just very insecure about herself… I know that doesn't make this all better but I think that in the end, she's sorry too. She won't admit it, but I think she is. Everyone is."

Kate nods. "I know that. I always try to see the best in people, but it's hard sometimes…"

I look at her. She's such a great person. "I'm sorry Kate…"

"I'm just glad that no one is paying attention anymore to my video… After everything that happened…" after a few seconds her eyes wide with shock. "I didn't mean what happened to Chloe is not horrible, sorry-"

"It's okay, I know you didn't meant it that way. I'm glad your video doesn't get attention either," I say, which immediately calms her down.

"Okay… Did you- did you watch it?" she asks timidly while blushing.

I nod my head no. "Of course not."

She nods to herself. "I knew you wouldn't… I still don't know what exactly happened to me, but the police really wants to help me find out… I asked them to delete it, and they said they would try their best… No wonder they call the internet a web,"

"Nothing ever gets out," I finish her sentence.

"Yes, exactly."

\----

In the afternoon, I take the bus to Joyce's house. I feel like I need to do this, and I want to see her and talk about Chloe. When I'm there, I'm greeted pretty quickly by David.

"Hello Max. Come in, Joyce's in the kitchen."

"Thank you," I enter and walk over to the kitchen table. Like David said, Joyce is sitting at the kitchen table.

"Hey Joyce," I say. "I'm sorry I didn't call first.

Joyce stands up and hugs me. "That's okay Max, you are always welcome her." When she lets go of me she studies me. "My my, how you have grown. I can't believe it's been so long. Too bad we have to meet through these circumstances." She sighs and sits back down, gesturing me to do the same. She looks very tired, her skin looks sickly pale and her eyes look red and puffy. My heart aches.

"What would you like to drink Max?" David asks me.

"Water please." I thank him as he gives me my glass and sits down next to Joyce.

Now that I'm here, I don't know what to say. Should I just tell her how sorry I am? How awful I feel that I barely contacted Chloe after I left? How sorry I am that she's now lost her entire family? I feel sick, and I wonder if it was such a great idea to come here after all.

So I'm just honest. "I don't know what to say…" Real smooth Max… "I'm so sorry you had to lose her."

"I'm sorry you had to lose her too. You two were like sisters, inseparable." A tear falls down Joyce's cheek.

I feel hot tears welling up too. "I just feel so bad I never contacted her… That I just left her…"

Joyce grabs my hands. "Do not blame yourself for that Max, please. I know that it wasn't your intention to do that. And I know Chloe knew that too. So please, don't blame yourself… I did that too when William passed, but I have learned that you can't do that, the guilt will eat you up, it will destroy you. Just remember the times that you cherish most. I like to think about the time we all went to the beach and Chloe and William, they had made the most amazing sandcastle ever. Chloe cried when the sea washed it away." A shadow of a smile crosses Joyce's lips. "Then we had ice cream and it was all better."

"I like to think of the time that we pretended a cardboard box was our pirate ship. We barely fit in there, but we managed. Our plan was to discover the entire world together." I grab my handkerchief to wipe away my tears.

Joyce nods and David hands her a tissue. "You two always wanted me to bake cookies for treasure. She could be a pain sometimes, but she was an amazing girl… She was just so angry at the world…"

"I know, she could be so brave and mature when she wanted too," I say. I want to tell Joyce how Chloe saved Arcadia Bay, but I don't.

"The funeral is this Friday at 6," David says quietly.

"I will be there." It's quiet for a while. "Joyce, may I- Can I just take a final look in her room? I won't touch anything."

Joyce nods. "Of course you can, go ahead."

"Thank you." I head up the stairs and take a deep breath before I open her door. It's just like it was on Monday when I came back here in so many years. A few boxes and pictures are missing, so I'm pretty sure Joyce has taken them. I look around and sit on her bed. I breath in her scent. I lay down on her bed as a single tear trickles down my cheek.

After a few minutes I go back down. I tell Joyce and David that I have to go. I hug Joyce again. I don't really want to tell her that everything will be okay and that she needs to be brave, because I'm pretty sure she knows that already.

I decide to not take the bus back home, but I take a walk instead. Chloe… I really miss you.

\---

When I'm back in my dorm room, I sit down on my couch and hug my teddy bear. There is just so much going on in my head about everything that happened the week before. Well, it didn't happen to everyone but me. I want to tell someone about everything. About the time travel, about the events that occurred, the choices I made. Should I tell Kate? Or Warren? I sigh. I don't know shit anymore.

A knock on my door pulls me out of my thoughts. It's Warren. "Hey, I wanted to see how you were doing."

I let him in and we sit on my couch. "I'm doing okay… Thank you."

"Max, I want to ask you something…" he sighs. "I just don't know how."

I sit up straight and look at him. "What's wrong?"

He sighs again and turns to me. "I'm just afraid of saying something wrong…"

I frown. "Warren, you can tell me anything."

"Okay… I've noticed that you've been acting really off lately… I mean of course it's because of what happened to Chloe and all that, but I can't help but seem to notice that there is something else… Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you if I did, you know, sorry..." He looks down.

I blink. Was I that obvious? I bite my lip as I think. Should I tell him? I want to, and I know he'll believe me. I can trust Warren. "Warren, I'm going to tell you something very… unbelievable. But I know that you'll believe me."

He nods encouraging. "Of course I will."

I inhale deeply. "I have been through this week before. I had a vision in Jefferson's class about a tornado destroying Arcadia Bay. I went to the bathroom and saw my best friend Chloe get shot by Nathan. Then I found out that I could rewind time… I could just do it whenever I wanted, I could also travel into pictures to go back in time even further. Anyway, Chloe and I got to spend the week together after I had abandoned her for so long, and so many shit happened. We found out what happened to Rachel Amber, who was Chloe's best friend. She-she had been kidnapped and drugged by Nathan. We found an old barn that had a bomb shelter underneath it, but it was actually a photo room…" A shiver goes down my spine. "The dark room… Jefferson drugged girls, brought them there and took sick photos of them. There were albums full of pictures…" I feel bile rise up in my throat. "That's what happened to Kate. She.. She tried to kill herself."

Warren gasps. "Oh god."

"I stopped her, but she was going to do it. She couldn't take it anymore, the bullying, her video, knowing that something had happened with her but not being able to remember it… We also found a binder that said Victoria, so we knew she was next. When we found out about the dark room we thought that it was just Nathan. We should have known that he could never do something big like that alone. We found Rachel's body… Chloe was devastated, it was horrible." I sigh. "Afterwards, we went to the Vortex Club party, where we found you. You took a picture with me and we left. I managed to warn Victoria about Nathan and then Chloe got a text from Nathan, telling us that he was removing Rachel's body. We went there and I felt a sharp sting in my neck."

Chloe…

What the fuck?

"Chloe got shot in the head. It was Jefferson… When I awoke again, I was in the dark room with Victoria. Jefferson… he had killed Nathan, and he wanted to kill us too. He took photos of me, and it was so disgusting…" Tears roll down my cheeks.

Warren balls his fists. "Fuck, I want to kill that son of a bitch. How could he do that to you?"

"Then he killed Victoria and David saved me right in time… Then I found you and you told me that my time travelling powers might have caused the tornado. That messing with time messed with everything… Then I got the photo you had taken the night before and-"

We kissed. Should I tell him? No, not now. "I traveled back in time. I went through so many universes, in the end I couldn't handle the headaches and nosebleeds anymore…"

Warren looks shocked. Logical reaction.

"Long story short, I thought I had fixed everything, but I hadn't. The tornado was still coming. Then Chloe told me… She wanted me to go back to where we started. To fix it all and make sure Arcadia Bay was saved. She sacrificed herself." I look at Warren. He looks flabbergasted.

It takes him a few minutes to understand what I had just told him. "Wow. That's-that's a lot."

"I know, sorry." I apologize. "Do you believe me?"

He looks at me and nods. "Of course I do. Wow… Chloe made such a brave choice."

I let out a soft sob. "She did… I could choose to save her… I just- I couldn't make that choice."

"It must have been so hard for you…"

I swallow. "It was. It still is. I just- I don't know if I made the right choices. I know so much now, and I just don't know what to do with that information. I don't know what to do anymore, I sometimes can't tell if something has happened or not." I start to sob. "I don't know what to do Warren."

"Oh Max…" he sits closer to me and embraces me. "I'm so, so sorry."


	4. Chapter 4: Wednesday part 2

Warren and I stay up all night talking. I tell him everything I remember that happened. Our conversation switches frequently from serious to lighthearted. I bet that if we would only talk about the heavy things we both couldn't bear having this conversation.

"So, I asked you out on a date?" Warren asks. He's too scared to look at me but I can see that he blushes.

I smile softly. "Yes. You asked me to go to the drive in."

"What was your answer?" he asks, shifting uncomfortably.

"Yes."

He looks at me briefly and blushes even harder. "How… how was it? The date?"

"We uh, we didn't got a chance to go… It was planned for after the tornado… You know…" I sigh. Way to bring that up again Max.

"Oh. Well that's too bad…" he says. "Do you think that you… well that you might want to go on a date again? In the future?" he says, stumbling over his words.

"Warren I- I don't know, with everything that's happened…"

He brushes his head. "Sorry, sorry. I shouldn't have asked. I just thought-"

"I know. I'm not saying now, I'm just saying not now."

Warren nods at me. "I know. Another thing I wanted to ask. You mentioned that you had nosebleeds and headaches?"

I nod. "Yeah, it seemed that they got worse when the week progressed. In the end, when I was travelling between universes, I got a nosebleed every time I got out of a certain universe and got back in another. And the headaches happened at random I think."

"Hmm…" Warren says, resting his head on his hands.

"What?" I ask. It's pretty obvious that he wants to ask me something.

"Do you still have headaches or nosebleeds?"

I shake my head.

He looks at me with a worried look in his eyes. "Good… I hope that it didn't cause any permanent damage… I guess only time will tell."

I snort at that comment. "Really?"

He looked confused for a few moments before he realized and smiled. "Sorry. So, you can't travel back again?"

"I don't know. I haven't tried, and I won't." I explain to him.

"Okay… Maybe it was the event of rescuing Chloe that triggered your ability… You said that I told you that you were the cause of the storm?"

"Yeah, you told me that it was the time travelling that had messed with the storm."

"Was I sure of that?"

I pause for a moment to think. "No, you said it might be the cause."

"Okay, because I was thinking, how can you be sure that sacrificing Chloe fixed everything?" he asked.

"I'm not. It seemed plausible. It started when I saved her, so I don't know…" I sigh.

"You also said that it seemed for Chloe that she was meant to die?" he asks.

I nod. "She first died in the bathroom, then she died in the junkyard because she accidentally shot herself, then she got killed by a train because she was stuck on the tracks and finally Jefferson shot her. And in an alternate universe she died too."

"What alternate universe? Was it like the others?" Warren asks, leaning in. Multiple universes and time traveling must please his inner science nerd.

"No. I wanted to make Chloe happy, so I- I traveled back to when we were kids and I prevented her dad from dying." I explain.

"Wow… You changed a really big thing."

"I know. When I returned, I was in a really alternate universe. Everything was different. I was part of the vortex club so I was actual friends with Nathan and Victoria,"

Warren looks shocked and his mouth actually drops open.

"You were dating Stella,"

"I was what?!" he exclaims. "Sorry sorry, continue."

"And well, William, Chloe's dad was okay, but Chloe had an accident instead. She was paralyzed and dying. She asked me to end her suffering. I did." I say, remembering that day.

Warren rubs his head and lays back. "Wow… Max… Just all this shit you've been through, I can't imagine how that must have felt. How it must feel now."

"Pretty horrible." I say honestly.

"Damn…"

"I'm glad you wanted to listen to me Warren. I needed that. I needed to tell someone," I say.

Warren looks sad and defeated.

"Do you want a hug?" I ask. He's kind of cute when he's so worried about me."

He nods and embraces me. "Sorry, you're the one that needs hugs." He holds me tighter. "I just care so much about you Max."

And if I was going to die, all I wanted was a kiss from the boy I cared about.

No. Not now.

"Thank you Warren. I care about you too," I smile at him. "Do you think I should tell Kate about all of this?"

Warren pouts his lips. "That's entirely your choice, but I think that she already has so much to think about. She's already been through a lot, and well, she's just not as strong as you."

"Don't say that Warren."

He grabs my hands. "Max, you saw a friend of yours kill herself, another one get killed, you were kidnapped, you traveled through fucking time! And here you are, still standing! I think that anyone else would have gone crazy, but not you. You are so strong Max. Don't forget that."

"I don't exactly feel strong Warren. To be honest, I think I'm on the brink of collapsing into insanity." That's it. The thought that had lingered in my head since I was back in this timeline.

"Oh Max… I'm pretty sure that you're traumatized. I want to say to go see a psychologist but-"

"I can't ever make them believe me," I complete his sentence. "That's why I'm so happy to tell you."

He looks at me. "I just wish I could do more. I just want to help you."

I hug him. "I know, thank you so much."

He rubs my back. "That's okay. I would do anything."

"I know."

Warren stays with me in the afternoon. We were watching a movie when someone knocked on my door. I open it and I see Kate standing there. She still looks tired and sad. Standing behind her are a man and a woman. From pictures I've seen in Kate's room, I recognize them as her parents.

"Hey Kate," I greet her.

"Hi Max. Hey Warren. Sorry, I didn't realize you had company," she apologizes.

"You are always welcome here," I say.

"Actually, I'm glad the two of you are here. Spares me a conversation I don't really want to have," she sighs. "As you can see my parents are here, and they want me to go home." She looks behind her and her mother gives her a sympathetic smile.

I expected that to happen one of these days. "Oh. You're not coming to Chloe's funeral then?" I can't help but sound disappointed.

"I made them promise that we won't be leaving until Friday. Of course I'm not going to leave you when you need me," she hugs me. "I just won't be staying at Blackwell for the moment. Not that I'd be here a lot, I have appointments with a psychologist and with the police."

I give her an understanding nod. "Of course. If you need company, you know where to find us."

She nods. "I know, thank you. Anyway, I have to leave now. I'll see you two again on Friday, maybe earlier."

I grab her shoulders. "Don't push yourself, okay?"

"I won't. Goodbye." She waves at Warren and gives us a final smile. Then she turns to her parents and they leave, with Kate in the middle.

I close my door and sigh. "Poor Kate."

"You really feel more sorry for her then yourself," Warren says. "I don't mean that you shouldn't care about Kate, you should just- I don't know, feel bad for yourself too. You went through some rough shit."

I know that he's right. I don't say anything, but I sigh and nod slowly.

"Anyways, you want to get some lunch?" he asks, looking worried.

I nod once again, and my grumbling stomach agrees.

When we come back to my room, we talk some more about time travel until we are once again interrupted by a knock on my door. It's so soft I almost didn't hear it.

I look at Warren, who just shrugs. I shrug back and go to open the door. To my surprise, it's Victoria. She's not standing directly in front of my door, but rather already heading towards hers.

"Victoria?" I ask.

She stops and turns towards me. For her doing, she's looking pretty bad, especially for her doing. She reminds me of how Kate looked earlier today. Her hair's not as perfectly in model as it always is, her make up is very basic and she looks very tired.

"Are you alright?" I ask her when she doesn't say anything.

She shakes her head. "I don't know what I was thinking, coming to you. I'll leave you now…"

I step closer to her. "No, Victoria, you can talk to me." She looks uncomfortable. "Hey, I know we're not the best of friends, but if you need someone to talk to…"

She sighs. "It's just- Taylor and Courtney don't understand, their brains are probably too tiny or some shit like that," she says sarcastically. Typical Victoria. "I just thought- I don't know. I know we aren't friends, but you've always been nice even when I was a total bitch to you."

"Do you want to come in? Warren's in here though, but I can send him away," I tell her. I look through my door opening and see Warren peeking through, looking very confused.

Victoria just shrugs in response, so I make a motion to Warren to come to me. "I'll text you, okay?" I ask.

He nods and walks away, looking quite dumbfound.

"Come in," I tell Victoria.

She looks around briefly before sitting down on my couch. Her hands are folded in her lap and she's sitting up straight. She doesn't say anything, but I feel like I should let her talk when she wants to. It feels weird, having her come to me for help in this timeline. I mean, when we haven't had our conversations yet about how she doesn't hate me and how I think she's an amazing artist. We were never kidnapped together. Obviously I'm happy about that, but still.

After a while, she starts to talk quietly. "When I heard that a student shot someone, I had a feeling that it was Nathan. He had been acting so weird lately, and he scared me sometimes. But I was the only one here that knew about his health problems so I had to stay his friend, you know? Not that I wanted to abandon him, but when he was in a horrible mood, I preferred to stay away from him. Still, he was my best friend. He was the only one that I could talk to about serious things, and he made me feel… like someone cared. And he always told me I did the same to him. And now he's gone." She pauses for a while. I think that she might start to cry, but she doesn't.

"And when I heard about Jefferson- I… I always sucked up to him so bad… To win the contest, I was even thinking about 'offering myself' or some shit like that if you get what I mean." She sighs. "I'm so glad I didn't do that."

Luckily she'll never get the chance too. I don't want to think about what Jefferson did to her when I was knocked out.

"I felt so sick when they told me that he was the one that had killed Rachel. I never liked her, felt she took my place, but I didn't actually want her dead like I always said. But when Wells said Nathan worked with him, I almost fainted. Nathan had helped Jefferson kidnap girls? I didn't believe it, and I don't really believe it now, but I guess it must be true."

I want to tell her the truth. Not about Nathan being the one killing Rachel, but that Nathan was pushed so hard by Jefferson, how he was manipulated and saw no other way. Yes, what Nathan did was wrong, but he wasn't evil, like Jefferson. Nathan has shown remorse, and that's the biggest difference.

"I just can't believe it. My best friend and my favorite teacher. I don't want to think about possibility of them kidnapping me. I just have to keep telling myself Nathan would never do that."

I agree with her on that. I don't even think Nathan knew about the Victoria binder.

Victoria lets out a heavy sigh. Out of relief? "I don't know why I told you any of this. We're not even friends."

"But we could be, right?" I say softly, keeping our conversation at the Vortex Club party in mind. I had felt pretty good after that. Not for succeeding in keeping her from Nathan, like I thought was important. No, I felt good because I told her what I wanted to tell her, and she was kind in return to me. Sure, she'll always be Victoria. The girl that was mean to me, to Alyssa, and was one of the people pushing Kate on that roof. But she, like Nathan, had shown remorse and regret.

She looks at me. "I guess, but you and I are too different. But hey, after this week I don't know anything anymore. I'm doubting everything. The Vortex club used to be everything to me, but now it just seems so superficial, like in the end, it never mattered if you're popular. Because it doesn't. I think I've realized that now. I just… I don't know what to do honestly." And for a moment, she doesn't look like the confident Victoria I've always known. She genuinely looks lost.

"I know it's hard, but you still have your friends… Just show them some appreciation, they've always been there for you. And leave Kate alone. I know that you posted the video, but I'm asking you to delete it. Be nice to her, she had a lot that happened to her."

She's blushing, and looks like she's about to cry again. Tears form in her eyes, but they don't fall down. "I'm sorry… I know I've been horrible to everyone, but I- I know it's not an excuse but I feel so horrible about myself… And Kate, she's so pretty and talented like you… I'm just a bitch, I know…"

I don't know what to say to that, so I stay silent.

"Again, I don't know why I'm telling you all of this," she sighs, empathizing the you.

"You just needed to talk to someone, and when you were finally talking, you couldn't stop. Listen, I'm not going to tell everyone if you're scared about that," I say.

She scoffs. "You better not."

I smile, that's the Victoria we all know.

"I won't. And if you need me again, you know where to find me."

She nods in response and opens my door. "I never got to say I'm sorry about that girl… Chloe. I heard she was your friend?"

I nod.

"I'm sorry for what happened to her. Maybe if I helped Nathan earlier, he wouldn't have freaked out," she says.

"You can't know that. You can't blame yourself for something like that." Look who's giving the advice.

"I know. I just wish I could travel back in time."

You don't. "I know."

"Anyways, thanks, Max," she says.

"Don't mention it." I smile to her. Then she leaves. I sigh and sit down on my bed. I'm startled by my phone vibrating. I take it out and see that I have a text from an unknown number.

Max, if you have the time, will you visit Two Wales diner? I have something for you. X Joyce.

I'm curious to what she has for me… Maybe it's something from Chloe? Her necklace perhaps? I remember taking it out of the dark room when she was shot. I don't really know why I took it because I knew that I would leave that timeline. I look at the time. It's half past 4, maybe I can go there around 6 and eat there too? Yes. I decide that's what I'm going to do.

\---

At a quarter to 6, I get ready. I take my black hoodie and put on some shoes. When I look over my room to see if I have everything, someone knocks on my door. It's Warren.

"Hey, Warren."

"Hi, I was wondering if you wanted to eat together? I was thinking the Two Wales?" he asks.

I smile. "You can read minds apparently. That's where I was headed."

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"Joyce has sent me a text, asking me to go there. She said she had something for me," I explain.

"Oh. Well, let's go then. I'll ask Kate if she wants to come too," he says, grabbing his phone.

"Good idea. Maybe you should invite her parents as well, I don't know if they want to leave her by herself," I say.

"Will do."

"Maybe we should go there already? She'll have to travel separately anyways. Are we going by bus?" I ask.

"I can drive if you'd like that better," he offers.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

In the car, Warren gets a message back from Kate, saying that we're both sweeties for asking her, but that her parents don't really want her to, but that they appreciate the offer as well. When we get there, we sit at the table Chloe and I sat at.

"What are you getting? I'm thinking I'm going to get a hamburger," Warren asks.

"I'm thinking the same," I smile at him.

"Max, there you are," Joyce says, walking to our table.

I stand up to hug her. "Hey Joyce. How are you doing?"

"I'm managing. David is a big help. He's such a kind man when he wants to."

I sit back down. "Are you working already?"

"Not really, I just wanted to get out of the house, and helping here helps to keep her of my mind. The same for David. Most of the time he's home, but he's working a lot on Jefferson's case," she sighs. "It's really quite horrible that someone can do all that."

"I know," I answer. I can feel Warren's eyes on me.

"Anyways, I'll take your order since I'm already here," she says.

"I'd like a regular hamburger and some water please," I say.

"The same for me but with Coke please," Warren says.

"Okay. I'll give you what I told you about after your dinner," she says.

After only a few minutes our dinner is served.

"Why was Victoria at your door earlier?" Warren asks. He takes a big bite of his burger. "Man this food is so amazing."

I smile. "I know. She just wanted to talk." I take a small bite too.

He frowns. "Victoria Chase wanted to talk to you? I mean, no offence but when did that happen?"

"I don't know. I think it was odd too, but I know how she can be." I lean a bit closer to him. "I've always chosen to be nice to her. Well, I spilled paint on her but-"

Warren chokes on his burger and choughs. "You did what?"

I sigh. "I'm not proud of it, but she wouldn't let me through, so I had to think of something. And well, that resulted in paint dropping on her. But, I apologized and decided to be nice to her. I could've taken a picture, but I didn't. Then, at the vortex club party, I warned her for Nathan and she told me she thought I was pretty cool."

Warren stares at me in awe. "Wow."

"Now eat your burger, you don't want it going cold," I say. When I'm finished, I think about the time Chloe and I sat here. How she tested me on my time traveling powers. I actually had to redo it a couple of times to get it all right, but Chloe would never know that anyway.

"Max?"

I look up. I realize Warren has asked me something.

"What?" I ask. "Sorry, was thinking."

"Chloe?"

"Yeah. I miss her," I sigh.

Warren lays his hand on mine. "I know, I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

Joyce walks over to our table, holding a cardboard box. "Max?" Warren pulls his hand away. I recognize the handwriting on the box, it's the one that was on Chloe's floor.

A waitress I don't recognize clears our table, and Joyce sets it down.

"I'll leave you two for a moment," Warren says.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"Outside. I'll be in my car. It was nice meeting you Joyce," Warren says.

"You too," she gives him a small smile. "Keep on taking good care of Max."

We both instantly blush. "I will," he answers.

Joyce grabs my hands. "He's lovely. Is he your boyfriend?"

"No," I say timidly. "He's not, we're just friend."

"Okay then," Joyce says. I can hear she's just a bit amused. I'm glad that I could make her laugh a bit. "Now, I cleaned Chloe's room up a bit, and I found a few things that I thought you would like to have. To remember her better."

"Not that I would ever forget her," I say.

And Maxine Caulfield, don't you forget about me.

Never.

Joyce smiles and takes something out of the box. "Here's one of her bracelets." It's the black one with spikes, the one she always wore.

"Joyce, thank you," I say, taking it. I immediately put it around my wrist.

"I kept her necklace, I'm sorry," she apologizes.

"No, Joyce, don't apologize, I'm already very grateful that you wanted to share this with me," I say.

"I also have a lot of pictures, some are doubles from those that I kept, but you know how William was. I found hundreds of pictures. He and you were very much alike when it was about photography. I also have his camera for you," she says, taking it out.

"No, Joyce, I can't,"

I can't take this.

"I want you to have it Max."

I want you to have it.

"Please, William and Chloe would want it to be used by someone with such a great eye like you. You can have it. I can't work that well with a camera anyways. At least now I know it will be used for great things."

And now I know it will be used awesomely.

My head hurts when I keep repeating the similar conversation I had with Chloe about this. "Thank you so much. For all of this. For everything."

"You too Max. I know that this is how she would have wanted it. You were always so special to her. To me and William too. Like our second daughter," she squeezes my hand.

"My mom said the same to me on the phone," I say.

"I know, we spoke too. You two were inseparable… How are you doing?" she asks, concerned.

"I'm managing. I've been thinking a lot about what you said, and it really helped me. Thank you for that," I admit. Keeping that in the back of my mind really helps.

"I'm glad I could help. I miss her," Joyce sighs, and a tear falls down.

"Me too."


	5. Chapter 5: Thursday

I stare at the bracelet dangling around my wrist. Her bracelet… After the talk with Joyce, I went back to Blackwell with Warren. I went straight to bed after arriving. I felt miserable.

I still do. I look at the cardboard box in front of me. The box that Joyce gave to me yesterday. It's kind of an inner duel. I really want to look at all the pictures Joyce has sought out for me, but at the same time I want to keep the box closed and contain what's left of her. I sigh and take the box. I inhale deeply and take the lid off.

Guess I've decided, I want to look at them. The first one is the one of me and Chloe dressed as pirates. I smile. The next one was taken on Chloe's birthday. She's wearing a paper crown, and has her arm around my waist. I have my arm around her neck. Our smiles are so bright… The next one is taken on the swing set. I remember that we always competed who could swing highest. Most of the time Chloe won, and I always blamed it on the fact that she was slightly taller than me.

I take my time to look at each picture, to take in what I'm seeing, and trying my best to imagine that day as I remember it. Some of them I don't remember being taken, but for most pictures, I do. I start to tear up, but I'm being very careful not to stain the pictures. As I lay the pictures on the ground around me, I feel something warm however inside of me. I feel… happy? I don't really know how to describe it, but I feel like she's with me, watching over me.

I wish I had a picture of us how we were in the other timeline. I'd be able to make a timeline of some sorts. It's very obvious to see when William passed… Chloe still smiles on those pictures, but something's off. She's clearly not feeling good. I sigh. How could I leave her and move away after her father died? Maybe if I never went away, everything would've been fine. Maybe then Chloe would've been able to cope with William's passing better. Maybe she would've been happier. At least less lonely.

Max, stop it! You couldn't help it that your parents moved! I remember how I begged them to stay here or let me live with Chloe and Joyce but of course they wouldn't let me. I wipe away the tears with my sleeve. Damn it Chloe… Damn it! I let out a groan and stand up.

"Fuck…"

I hear a knock on my door. "Max?" I walk over to my bed.

Why did it have to go this way? Why did she have to die?

"Can I come in?"

I sob loudly. I hear my door open and someone walking in.

"Oh Max…" Warren puts his hand on my shoulder. I let out a wail and my body shocks with every sob. I feel Warren put his arm around my shoulder.

"Why? What did I ever do wrong to make this happen to me? Why the fuck is the universe so fucking angry with me?! Why did I get these powers, if all I was going to create was death and destruction?" I yell.

I feel Warrens grip tighten. "Max, you didn't-"

I don't let him finish. "I did!" I shrug his arm off and stand up. "I did! You don't know what I've been through! I've seen so much shit and- and horrible thing that I will never be able to get out of my head! I will never forget the faces of the people that died because of me. I saw actual people die in front of me. They died because I fucked up! I saw how I hurt people so bad, but then I'd just rewind and it had never happened! But guess what, I remember! I remember everything! I'm going mad, Warren, I don't know what's real and what not, and I keep seeing her-" that last word only came out as a sob. "I keep seeing Chloe, dying over and over and over. I keep seeing Kate, jumping of that roof and hitting the ground. I keep seeing Jefferson with that look-" I don't dare to look at Warren. "I fucked up really bad, and I'll never forget it."

I hear Warren stand up. "Max, Max look at me." He gently takes my face between his hands.

Finally I fix my eyes on him. He looks shocked and sad. I've never yelled at him like that before. He doesn't look hurt though.

"I'm so sorry about what you had to go through. I'm even more sorry that you can't even forget about it. I- I just don't know what I can do to help you- but I- I can't stand this. Just watching you being in so much pain. Even when you have the tiniest smile on your face your eyes show how much you are suffering. I know that I can never understand what happened to you, and that I can never know what you saw exactly, but I don't have to, and you never have to tell me if you don't want to. I've you do you-you can of course, I just, I want you to know that I'll never judge you for things that you've done," he bites his lip.

"It just hurts so much… It's torture…" I press my face against his sweater and hug him. "Thank you so much for being there for me Warren… Thank you so much…"

He strokes my hair. "Always."

"I know."

We're laying on my bed. Warren's arm lays around my waist. I've finally calmed down.

"Thank you."

Warren moves his head. "You okay?"

I sigh. "Yeah. As okay as I'll will be though."

"That's good enough for now. I've got a question for you, if you're ready for it… It's kind of a touchy subject."

I frown. "Sure, what's it about?"

"Chloe."

"Oh." I think I can guess in what direction this question will go. "Go ahead, I'll tell you if I don't want to answer."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

He scratches his throat. "Ehm… It's a bit awkward… I just-" he sighs. "Do-did… were you in love with her?"

I close my eyes. "I definitely love her. Or loved I guess. She was there for me whenever I needed her, and she's been a friend to me for years. She's the best friend I could wish for. And I- When I met her again, we just spend so much time together, and I- I definitely felt confused around her. It felt so natural, being around her, and I guess being with her as well." I look down. "But I wasn't in love with her. I loved her, I really did, but I wasn't in love with her."

I feel him nod. "Okay."

I guess there wasn't much to say after that. I understand his question, since I asked it myself too a lot. Especially when we were together… I sigh. Was Chloe in love with me? I think she probably felt something for me… Though I always had the feeling that she had been in love with Rachel. I think that Chloe couldn't get her out of her head until she knew what really happened to her. But I don't really want to make a guess. That's not what I want to think about when I want to think about her.

I want to think about all the awesome things we did, and the things that we loved to do. I want to remember her as Chloe, my best friend.


	6. Chapter 6: Friday part 1

"Max!"

My eyes open. Why is someone at my door? It feels like it's still nighttime. I want to turn over when I feel a warm liquid on my lips. I bring up my hand to my nose. It's bleeding.

What the fuck?

I tell myself to calm down. A nosebleed is something very normal that can happen to everyone. It doesn't have to mean that… I frown as I try to remember why I woke up.

"Max!"

That was why. I open my door. It's Victoria, she's looking very scared. "Victoria? What's wrong?"

"Look! Outside!" I walk over to my window. No.

No fucking way.

It's the tornado. It's the fucking tornado. "No…" I mutter.

"We need to leave right now!" Victoria yells.

How? How can this be? I thought I fixed everything!

"What the hell are you doing? Come on!"

Did I kill off Chloe for nothing? Did I save everyone for them to die again?

Victoria pulls my arm hard. "What the fuck are you doing Max? Go!"

"No, it's not real…" I whisper, looking down. "It's not real."

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you fucking blind? Look!" she grabs my shoulders roughly and forces me to look outside again.

"No…" I cry. "No…"

"Fuck it, come on!" Victoria pulls me with her by my arm.

"No…" how can this be? I never time traveled, did I? Then why is this fucking tornado here? Why weren't there any signs? The snow, the eclipse, the two moons? Was this fucking thing always coming?

Victoria somehow managed to get us to the main building. Everyone is outside, soaked by the rain, staring at the sky in awe. Some people are yelling.

"Oh my god, what's happening?"

"What is going on?"

"No one told us this was going to happen!"

"Are we going to die?"

Victoria turns to me. "Yeah, are we, Max?"

I stare at her. "What?"

"Are we going to die? You're the one that should know, I mean, you caused this shit," she scoffs.

"What are you-" I notice that everyone has stopped yelling. Instead, they've all turned to me. Their eyes look empty. The wind becomes louder and louder, until the tornado is only a few miles away. Why is no one running?

I almost choke on my tears when the tornado becomes so close it engulfs us all.

I jolt up with a scream. My breathing is rapid, and I'm covered in sweat and tears. I hug my legs as I sob loudly.

I hear a soft knock on my door.

It wasn't real. The tornado is not here.

"Max?" someone says quietly. It's Victoria.

Oh god, the tornado is real. My dream is real.

"Are you okay?"

Wait. She wouldn't ask that if there was a tornado coming. Or would she? I reach my hand up to my nose. No nosebleed. Huh.

"I'm coming in." the door opens and Victoria steps in. "Shit are you okay?"

My breathing is rapid. "Wh-what are you doing here?" I manage to get out between breaths. I can't calm myself down.

"I think the whole hallway heard you yell. Listen, I'm going to call your geek friend. You're seriously freaking out. Just- just try to stay calm. I'll be right back." She grabs my phone from my nightstand. After a while I hear her speak. "No calm down it's me, Victoria, yeah. Anyways she's totally freaking out, you might want to come over, okay? Oka- and he's hung up." She sighs and comes back into my room. She sits on my couch and looks very uncomfortable. It almost seems that within seconds, Warren is here, looking red and sweaty, still in his pajamas. Victoria stands up.

The tornado is not real. It's not coming. You're okay. Warren is here now.

"I don't know what happened, I just heard her scream and came to check on her."

"Thanks for calling," Warren says. He sits down next to me and puts an arm around my shoulder. "Thank you."

She turns around and waves her hand. "I know." Then she walks out and closes my door.

"What happened?" Warren asks. "Nightmare?"

I nod and put my head on his shoulder. I've stopped crying and I seem to get my breathing under control. "I thought it was real… That the tornado was back. It was so real… I was sure that it was over. That it was all for nothing."

"But you're okay now, I'm here, and there's no tornado. You're alright. I'm here," Warren says as he rubs my shoulder. "It wasn't for nothing. You're safe."

After a few minutes of him telling me this, I'm calming down.

"Listen, I know this sounds stupid, but you need to get some sleep. It's a heavy day tomorrow."

Chloe's funeral.

"I don't want it to become day," I say. "I don't want it to be real."

"I know. But I'll stay here. So if you have any nightmares, you'll have someone. If you're okay with that of course."

I nod numbly. "Yeah."

"Do you want to talk some more?" he asks.

"I don't know what to say. It's not real, and we're not dying," I say.

"That's right."

I lay down and Warren lays next to me. After what feels like an hour, I feel him moving. He stands up, and then I hear him lie down again. He's moved to my couch because he thinks I'm asleep. That's so sweet.

I'm pretty calm now. Warren's words have helped me. Maybe I can finally catch some sleep… I need to look presentable. For her, and for Joyce.

I roll over and hug my teddy bear. For her.

"That's okay, we'll be", I hear Chloe say. I look up. I'm at the lighthouse. How the hell did I get here? Is this real? Or just another nightmare? "How can it be such a shitty week, yet be the best one in my life."

"Chloe?" I call out. I can't see her anywhere. Which is logical, why would I see her? She's dead.

"Don't you forget about me."

"Chloe? I know you're not there…" I whisper.

"Who says that I'm not?" I feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn around, startled.

It's Chloe, standing right here, in front of me. "Chloe?! How? What- what are you-"

"You're not happy to see me?" she smirks and opens her arms.

I hug her tightly. "Why are you here? How can you be here?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

I frown and step back. "I'm dreaming." I look around. Everything seems like it has a glow over it (even though it's night) now that I'm paying attention to it. Chloe too, it seems like she has some sort of glow around her.

She walks over to the bench and sits down. "That would explain a lot, wouldn't it."

I sigh. "These fucking dreams keep tormenting me… Like everything I've been through wasn't enough."

Chloe looks at me. "Well I'm sorry that I've caused you so much pain Max." she sounds hurt.

I sigh again and sit next to her. "That's not what I meant… It's just, the nightmares…"

"I know… I didn't mean to react like such a bitch either. Sorry. But do you think this is a nightmare?" she asks.

I bite my lip. "I- I don't know… I don't think so, I mean, I don't feel bad or something."

"Then how do you feel?"

I think for a few seconds. "Calm."

"Hmm," Chloe answers. "That's good right?"

I nod. "That's a first in a long time."

She sighs. "I know. I'm sorry."

I scratch my nose. "Tomorrow's your funeral."

She leans back. "I know, and let me guess. You don't want the day to start."

"Of course I don't want to go to your funeral! It makes it all so… official."

She leans her arms on her knees. "Yeah. It does, doesn't it? But you'll do fine. Like this week, you seemed to function at least."

I look at her face to see if she meant it in an offended way. It doesn't seem like that. "I'm sorry. Please don't think I'm forgetting you."

"No. Because you said you wouldn't. And I know that you wouldn't, ever. I'm glad that you're not a total wreck." She sighs. "But, you're not doing good huh?"

I close my eyes. "I guess not."

She rubs my back with her hand. "I wish I could help you… But I'm so glad that you got Kate and Warren… They're really great friends, and I'm glad they're so good for you. I feel like I can trust them to take care of you now I'm gone."

"They are great friends… I wouldn't know what I would have done without them. Be even more of a wreck I guess."

She grabs my arm. "Don't say that, you're Mad Max! Super Max!"

I shrug her off. "No I'm not! I'm a wreck! I'm constantly feeling either scared or super guilty! I don't know if I can keep on going like this… I don't think that I can live like this forever, I just- I can't Chloe."

She looks shocked and grabs my hands. "Don't you ever say that again, please. I know that it's incredibly hard and I know that I can't possibly get how hard this is for you, but please, don't you ever give up. Yes, shit happened, and yes, I died, but don't you think that it was destiny?"

"What was destiny? If I didn't like an outcome I would just go back in time and change it! How's that destiny?" I say, almost yelling, but not really. I just don't want to yell at her.

"I don't mean you going back in time, I meant me dying. How many times did it happen?"

I look down.

She raises her hands. "See? I don't think that saving me was the better choice. Like I've told you, if we could do it again, knowing what we know, I would've said exactly the same thing in the end. I wouldn't want you to have to live with the death of so many people! And in the end, I think that I wouldn't have made it anyway. I don't know what the universe has against me, but it clearly wanted me dead."

"I know the problem, the universe kind of hates me too," I scoff, looking at the horizon. It's already becoming lighter. The sun's coming up.

"It really has something against us, doesn't it."

I rest my head on her shoulder. "It does. I just- I really miss you and I can't stop thinking about what would've happened if I'd chosen to save you."

She rests her head on mine. "Max, you do realize you have to stop doing that, right? If you keep blaming yourself and thinking what if, you'll become hella crazy. We both don't want that to happen. Like you said, if you keep thinking that way, you can't live like that."

"I don't know if I can," I admit. I'm pretty convinced I can't stop it.

"You have to try Max. Think about Kate, she's been with you through this shit. You've both been through the same trauma, even if she doesn't know that. She needs you too, as a friend."

I bite my lip. That's true…

She frowns. "And what about Warren? He's been with you too through all of this. He cares so much for you Max. You know that too. And if you keep holding on to me, you're going to lose him. Kate too. They need you as a friend too. I'm not saying that you should forget about me, but I don't want you to drown in all of your thoughts. I want you to live in the now, and think about me from time to time. I'll always be there for you, even though I'm not really here anymore."

A few tears fall down my face. "Chloe, you're such an amazing friend. You've grown so much as a person, and I'm so proud of you."

She smiles. "I'm proud of you too Max."

We embrace tightly. "Chloe, was this conversation real? Or was it really a dream?"

She grabs my shoulders. "Well, you said earlier that it was a dream, right?"

I look down. "I know, but it all feels so real… Like you're really here with me."

She smiles mysteriously. "Who says that I'm not, right?"


	7. Chapter 7: Friday part 2

I open my eyes. The sun is still rising, so everything has some sort of glow around it. I look around to see where I am. I'm at the lighthouse. How did I get here? I remember getting into bed and, and… I squint. Think Max…

And then it comes back to me.

I was here with Chloe, in a dream. We were talking and then… then I woke up. I put on this dress, necklace and shoes. Before I left I grabbed a purse and put my phone in there. Before I left, I glanced at Warren, who was sleeping on my couch. I knew he would be crazy worried and that I should wake him or at least leave a note, but I don't.

Since it was so early, there weren't any buses driving yet, so I went by foot. It was a long walk, and my feet are still pretty sore. But it feels right, to have walked here, to be here. The dream made that even more clear to me. And this was the location where we- we said goodbye.

"I'll always love you."

And I'll always love you, Chloe.

I stare at the horizon. Weird that there was a tornado on this exact day right in front of where I'm standing, but in a different universe. The sky looks beautiful. The mixture of pink and a soft yellow makes it look like a painting. If I had my camera with me, I would have taken a picture.

That brings something to mind. I haven't taken a single picture since- since I'm back here. I haven't even thought about my camera since. Huh, how strange.

I don't want to turn around, because that means that I have to leave. It means that I have to go to her funeral. And then it's official, there's no turning back. I know I have to. I look at the horizon one last time before I turn around. I walk over to the little friendship memorial me and Chloe made when we were younger. The right side of my lip tugs into a faint smile.

I sigh and I start heading down the trail. I hear a faint noise, and I realize is my phone vibrating. It's probably Warren, worried sick about my whereabouts. I take it out of my purse and see that I've got about 20 messages and 10 missed calls. I press the answer button and hold the phone to my ear.

"Max! Finally! Where are you?" he sounds extremely worried and distressed, so I immediately feel bad.

"I'm at the lighthouse. I'm sorry," I say. I really regret not telling him when I left. This reminds me when I got out of the dark room. I had so many incredibly worried texts from Warren. It was very sweet.

He sighs. "Okay, I'm coming to get you."

"Okay. Sorry," I whisper.

"It's okay. See you in a few minutes."

"Okay."

I sigh as I put my phone back into my bag. I feel really bad right now, but my 'previous' self apparently thought that I had to be here. I agree. It makes total sense.

I head down the trail and sit on a bench that's next to the road. Warren's here within a few minutes, he must have rushed… Kate and Dana are sitting in the back, so I sit in the front. They all look sad, and when they look at me I see a hint of pity.

"We were really worried about you Max," Warren says.

I look down. "I know… I'm really sorry."

Kate puts a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, it's normal that you needed some time alone. You're here now, and that's all we care about."

"I think it's best that we head to the cemetery…" Dana says. "We'll be a bit early, but…"

I interrupt her. "That's okay, I want to talk to Joyce anyways."

"Okay then," Warren says. He starts the car and drives off.

No one really says anything during the drive there. I guess no one knows what to say, and I don't really want to talk. I just stare at the horizon while the sun is rising. I have a heavy feeling in my stomach, like the weight of it is dragging me down. God Chloe… I miss you.

We arrive at the cemetery after a few minutes since it's pretty close to the lighthouse. I can still see it when I look away from the cemetery. We get out of the car, and Joyce and David are standing at the entrance. I excuse myself to my friends and walk over to the two of them.

I honestly don't know what to say or do around them. Should I give Joyce a hug? Say something? Weird that interacting with the woman who was pretty much another mom to me when I was small, feels so alienating right now. I kind of feel similar compared to when William had died. I didn't know what to say to Chloe, or Joyce. How to act. What to do. I don't know if anyone does actually.

First William, and now Chloe. I can't imagine what this must feel for Joyce… Pretty shitty, that's obvious, but what do you do when almost everyone in your family, the people you loved most, is gone? Would Joyce blame me, if I told her that it was my fault? That I didn't save William when I could, and Chloe died despite all my effort? That I chose to sacrifice her?

I swallow hard. No. Joyce doesn't blame you, Max. You know that. You do.

"Hi Joyce, David." I say, and my voice immediately cracks. "I- I don't know what to say I-"

"You don't have to say anything Max," Joyce says. She steps forward and embraces me. "I'm so happy you're here."

"Of course I am," I say. She lets go of me and I see that she's crying. I start to cry as well.

David steps forward and puts his hand on Joyce's shoulder. "We have to start, if you're ready." A man is standing next to him. I presume he will lead the ceremony.

Joyce nods. "I don't think I'll ever be ready for this."

David hugs her and kisses her head. "I know." The man starts to walk, and Joyce and David follow. Her head is resting on his shoulder, and his arm is around her waist. I'm so glad she has David…

I see that principal Wells and some other students from Blackwell are here. Justin and Trevor, who hung out with Chloe, I expected to be here. Dana is here to support Trevor and me. I'm surprised to see Victoria is here too. I'm kind of glad she is though. Maybe she's here to support me too…

Kate and Warren walk towards me. "I need a few seconds, you guys can go already." Kate gives me a hug and heads after Joyce and David. When I see that Warren wants to protest, I shrug him off. "It's fine. I'll be okay, just, give me a few seconds okay?" He doesn't look happy with it, but he nods and hugs me. Then he follows Kate, together with the rest. Dana gives me a quick hug and Victoria gives me a pitiful nod. I watch them walk between the graves, to Chloe's one. I look at the lighthouse one more time before I follow them too.

She'll get buried next to William, of course… This day reminds me so much of his funeral, I can't imagine what it must be like for Joyce.

They stop at her coffin. Kate rubs Joyce's arm before she stands next to David. She's so kind, even to people she doesn't know.

Warren stops next to Joyce, leaving a space for me to stand in between. The others stop a bit earlier and let me through. I step onto my spot and look at the coffin. I can't believe she's in there. God Chloe.

The priest starts to speak, and after a few seconds Joyce starts to sob. My eyes start to water again. I don't really listen to what the man is saying, because I don't really care. That's what I never liked about funerals. The same thing is said at each one of them. It loses its meaning. So I just stand there. Thinking about the old times between the two of us. About our week together. I regret it so bad that I couldn't tell her. That this Chloe doesn't know how much fun we had had this week and how it had been amazing. How I care so much about her. The only thing I can do is hope she knew.

I wipe a tear from my cheek. I can see Warren look at me, and I step a bit closer to him.

It's strange, I can't tell if this week was the worst thing, or the best thing that has ever happened to me. I guess it's a bit of both. And all because the universe decided that I should be given powers that I shouldn't mess with. I guess I'll never know why. Would it be better if I never got my powers? Then nothing of this would have happened, and then I wouldn't remember. But this time with Chloe… I don't think I would want that to never have happened. Yes, horrible things have happened, and now- she's- she's gone… But maybe the universe wanted to grant her and me some time together again. Maybe it was Rachel. But I guess I'll never know.

Chloe… I guess I want to thank you for everything. You were the best friend that I could ever imagine, even if you were a pain in the butt sometimes. You were like the sister I never had. I don't think I'll ever stop regretting not being there for you when you needed me. I never wished for this. But I have to move. I'll never forget you though, like I promised. I will always love you too.

And that's when I see it. A bright blue butterfly, flying towards her coffin. It looks like an exact copy of the one in the bathroom. The exact butterfly that I've associated with her all the time. Chloe.

A small smile tugs on my lips.

Chloe.

"My powers might not last."

"That's okay. We will. Forever."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who took their time reading this story! Please leave a comment or kudos if you liked it!
> 
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**Author's Note:**

> AN: So, this was the first chapter! I'm thinking of writing and posting more, but I wanted to see if there was any interest in a story about what happens to Max after she sacrifices Chloe. I imagine that fucks a person up good. Anyways, if you have questions about this or about my opinion of the game or choices I made, please PM me or ask in a review. Speaking of those, they are much appreciated.


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